Red Angel Reiasu 2: One Mistake Out of So Many
by Mercury Amazon
Summary: A robot from the past has survived to the time of X and Zero. He awakens to a dark world of his nightmares, where Reploids have turned against their human masters. (Rewritten version)


RED ANGEL REIASU   
Episode 2: One Mistake Out of So Many   
Mercury Amazon 

_The first word was "dream"_   
_From the middle of sleep_   
_Which secretly accompanies_   
_The darkness in my heart_   
_The second word was "wind"_   
_Directing my journey_   
_From God's arms,_   
_ Fanning wings_   
_As if counting_   
_the melting sorrows,_   
_Yet another golden_   
_ apple fell_   
_Not even looking at the scenery,_   
_There is the place you're going_   
_With merely a single life,_   
_You struggle to reach that place_

The training hall was a bit more populated than usual today, as the two opponents took their places at opposite ends of the arena. The crowd murmured amongst themselves, speculating on which would be victorius. As it was, the two were fairly evenly matched, a speed advantage to a strength advantage. They both turned, looking bloodthirsty and happy to fight. Agile's red eyes gleamed. 

Zero brushed his long blonde hair aside, displaying his usual casual confidence. He was quite decidedly the crowd favorite, but neither cared about that. It was a continuous dance with the two of them, fight after fight, wins and losses evening out to indecisiveness. Neither could claim superiority over the other. So they continued to fight, week after week. That, and sometimes you just have reach out and smack somebody, you know? 

Neither combatant had full armor on, and their sabers were tuned down from Kill to Annoy. Pai, the designated referee, rose from her place in the control box. 

"Ready?" she called. 

Neither answered, but both grinned viciously, baring their metallic teeth. They crouched, ready to spring like panthers. 

"Fight!" Pai shouted. 

A blur of lilac and gray shot toward Zero, who leapt gracefully into the air. He air-dashed to the right, bringing down his saber as he landed. Agile spun around, slicing blindly behind him as he turned. Zero leapt again and executed a flying pinwheel strike, his signature move. Agile barely dodged and clipped Zero   
with the very tip of his blade. 

"Hey! Watch the hair!" Zero protested. 

"Quit your bitching, pretty boy!" Agile retorted. He dashed at Zero, his saber a blur of motion. Zero leapt back, dashed in midair again, and executed another pinwheel. When he landed, his saber was at Agile's throat. His violet eyes gleamed evilly. 

"Checkmate," he said. 

"Best 2 out of 3?" Agile replied, unimpressed. 

"Sure." 

  
It was about this time that Miaka woke up. She checked her watch, seeing that she'd slept through her classes for that day. No big loss, she hadn't wanted to go anyway. She yawned and pushed herself up. The charger was conspicuously empty, and he was nowhere in the room. She wondered where he'd gone. She couldn't help but worry a bit, since he'd just been attacked. 

Still, she needed to at least make an appearance at her dorm. Rachel, her roommate, was out for the night. Which was good- she hadn't wanted to explain where she'd been. She didn't mind Rachel knowing about her association with Reploids, but she'd rather not explain that she'd fallen asleep in his bedroom. Rachel had a tendency to take things the worst way possible. 

She changed out of the dress she had been wearing, opting for something more simplistic. She selected a blue shirt and a pair of blue overalls. She knew she needed to stay here and do the work she'd put off, but she couldn't get her mind off Agile and Zero. She wondered what was going on with Sigma and Storm. She wondered if Agile was okay. It wasn't like her being there would ensure his safety or anything. She knew she couldn't fight for him- she was simply too weak. But that hadn't stopped her from facing down Storm Eagle... 

Why had she done that? She could have very easily been killed. But that hadn't crossed her mind at all when she'd run out there. All she was thinking was he might have killed her Agile. 

Her Agile? 

Well, he was her friend, wasn't he? 

Of course he was. They both were. 

But would she do the same for Zero? 

Of course she would. 

But would she dwell on it? 

And what was this leading to anyway? 

She shook her head. She knew for certain she wouldn't get any work done, so she may as well head back. When she arrived, she saw Zero and Agile emerging from the training hall. Agile smiled placidly while Zero grumbled under his breath. Agile, being able to see over the crowd milling around the entrance, spotted her first and waved her over. When she was within earshot, Agile loudly said, "What's the matter, Zero-san? Upset because I beat you?" 

"You got lucky, man," Zero retorted. "And quit trying to impress her." 

"I am not trying to impress her," Agile objected quickly. He was glad he was incapable of blushing. 

"Right. And I'm Sailor Moon." 

"Well, more like Sailor Venus actually," Miaka said. 

"I hate you, Miaka." 

"I hate you too, Zero." 

"I have an irrelevant question," Agile said. 

"Shoot." 

"I don't shoot, I slash. With all those midair acrobatics you do with your saber, how the hell do you manage not to cut your hair?" 

He didn't get a chance to answer, for at that moment a large bear Reploid bumped into Miaka. He turned on her instantly. 

"Stupid fleshbag!" he snarled, rearing back a paw. He batted her aside, slamming her against the far wall hard enough to make cracks in it. 

"MIAKA!" Agile and Zero immediately drew their sabers, setting them to Kill. Agile moved first, snarling incomprehensibly as he lunged for him. Zero followed, even though he knew Agile would rip the bear to shreds in seconds. 

He stopped cold when he saw Miaka glowing again. She was standing in front of the Miaka-shaped dent in the wall, wrapped in white light. It faded after a moment, all except for her eyes. They glowed as red as Agile's. She reached out, and a huge ball of bluish-white light slammed into the bear Maverick. Its eyes went dead, yet Agile still ripped into it. He slashed, roaring in fury like a lion. His saber went clean through the bear's decimated body, and only then did he stop, standing over the pieces. He was covered in black circulatory fluid, pointing the saber at the corpse as if daring it to move. Agile's simulated breathing for some reason was much heavier than usual, like a human's... His eyes glowed a brighter red as he snarled. Zero glanced nervously from Agile to Miaka, who seemed miraculously unharmed. 

Neither moved. It was Zero who broke the silence. 

"Um... what just happened?" 

Miaka moved toward Agile, whose eyes dulled to their normal red. He dropped his saber, which deactivated, and ran to her. 

"Miaka, are you hurt?" 

"No," she said, oddly peaceful. "Not at all." 

"I still want Salubri to take a look at you," Zero said as he approached. 

"Are you sure you're okay? That impact should have killed you." 

"I'm fine," she said a moment before she collapsed. Agile caught her. 

"Did you see what I saw?" Zero asked. 

"What do you mean?" he asked as he lifted Miaka effortlessly. 

"Did you not see her glowing? Didn't you notice the Kamehameha she hurled at that guy?" 

"No." 

"Figures. You were... not yourself." 

"How do you know that?" Agile countered. 

"I've never seen you like that. You aren't a violent guy." 

"How do you know I'm not? How do you know I didn't enjoy that?" 

"Agile... I'd be careful about that kind of talk if I were you." 

"What do they care? All I did was kill a Reploid. I could kill hundreds of Reploids and no one would notice. Oh, wait, I do." His voice was hard, cutting. 

"It's our job to protect humans." 

"Really? Don't you think there's a better way than just killing us?" 

"I don't really want to have this argument now, Agile..." Zero said tiredly. "I just want your word that you're not going to go psycho like that again." 

"I can't promise that if my friend is nearly murdered right before my eyes." 

"Granted... Just don't do anything crazy, OK? I'd hate to lose you." 

Agile said nothing, convinced now that Zero could not know his secret. He merely nodded. 

  
Later, when Miaka was awake, Agile and Zero recounted the incident for Dr. Cain. X was present as well. Miaka had nothing to say during the conversation. She noticed a red armored Reploid in an adjacent room. He looked lifeless, but Miaka could tell he wasn't dead yet. She could also sense that this was the Relic, rebuilt. Dr. Cain noticed her curiosity. 

"Oh, don't bother with that, Miss Tendou," he said. "I tried to fix it, but there's no reviving it. It's dead. I think I'll scrap it." 

"The hell you will," she said. She walked boldly up to him. Zero noticed with a shiver that she was glowing again. She touched the Reploid's face, and he opened his gray eyes. 

"Where... am... I?" 

Agile and Zero exchanged a glance. Or at least, Agile turned his head toward Zero.   
  
The red Reploid sat up, his attention fixed on Miaka. "Who are you? Where am I?" 

"I'm Miaka Tendou," she said. "This is Maverick Hunter Headquarters. You've been out for about a hundred years, Protoman." 

"How did you know my name?" he asked. "And where's my scarf??" 

"I recognized you from my Robotics History class. You were in pretty bad shape when we found you. Your scarf was ripped to shreds, pretty much like the rest of you. Dr. Cain rebuilt you as a Reploid." 

"A Reploid?!" Protoman's eyes widened. "Oh God, no! He really did it!" 

"Did what?" Zero asked. 

Protoman leveled his arm cannon at Zero. "I'll kill you this time!" 

Miaka interposed herself. "Stop it, Protoman. Zero's my friend." 

"He's a crazed killer! How do you think I ended up the way I did?" 

X stepped into the room. "Don't hurt him! He'd never do anything like that! He's my best friend!" 

Protoman stared at X, slowly lowering his arm cannon. "The dumb old bastard really did it," he said dejectedly. "Maverick Hunters, eh? I told him so." 

"Huh? Who are you?" X asked. "How do you know us?" 

Protoman waved him aside. "It doesn't matter. The future is exactly what I thought it would be. But no one listens to me anyway." 

Agile, who had remained silent thus far, crossed his arms. "OK, Miaka. How the hell did you do that?" 

Miaka looked down. "I... I've always been able to do things like that... I felt his soul was still there, so I woke him up."   
  
"Soul?" a female voice scoffed. They all turned to see a tall blonde in a lab coat standing behind Dr. Cain. She looked more than a little skeptical. "Don't forget you're talking about machines, dear. They don't have souls." 

"Oh, I forgot to introduce Dr. Sarah Akane," Cain said. "She's my new research assistant." 

Miaka was unimpressed. "Who are you to determine that? How can you even think that when they can talk to you and interact with you? For that matter, how can you be so rude to people standing right in front of you? These people are my friends and I demand you treat them with the respect they deserve." 

"Your 'friends' are machines. No different than a common computer. Whatever they do, it is because they are programmed to do so. They are incapable of independent thought or emotion." 

A crunching sound was heard as Zero broke off the edge of a bed he'd been crushing. X looked troubled. Protoman and Agile were unreadable. 

"Perhaps because you are too simple to understand the complexities of Reploid programming, you are under the delusion that these robots have souls. You are wrong by simple scientific fact. Souls are human province only, not for walking computers. Perhaps if they didn't look so humanlike, Dr. Cain. Perhaps   
we could have these units altered?" 

"That's enough!" Miaka snapped. "No one will touch them without coming through me!" She turned to the assembled. "Don't you guys have anything to say in your own defense?" 

"What I don't understand is why you care at all," Agile said.   
  
"What do you mean... why?" she asked innocently. "We're friends, why not?" 

"Because were just walking computers," Zero said sarcastically. "Never mind that we consistently go out and kill our own kind to keep your worthless asses in one piece." X smiled at Zero's bravery. Protoman crossed his arms and glared, looking very much like he'd expected this. Agile looked troubled, casting his eyes to the ground. 

"Be quiet, robot," Akane said coldly. "You should remember your place and who owns you."   
  
"Why don't you be quiet, since you obviously have no idea what you're talking about?" Miaka said. "My abilities affect souls. It's painfully obvious that since my powers work on them, they have souls. So why don't you shut your ignorant, racist mouth, you stupid bitch?" 

With that, she left. Zero couldn't contain a grin. "I like her." 

_"One mistake out of so many... so many..."_   
_-Lyta Alexander, Babylon 5_ __

_Opening song "Voices" from Macross Plus._


End file.
